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Two Rookie Kings Arc
The Two Rookie Kings Arc, also known as Makunouchi Ippo VS. Okita Keigo, is the sixth story arc in the series and the first in the Class A Contender Saga. After finishing the All Japan Rookie King Tournament, Makunouchi Ippo meets one of his fans, Yamada Naomichi, a timid boy who joins the Kamogawa Boxing Gym. Later, Ippo spars with the JBC featherweight champion, Date Eiji. Ippo then has a match against last year's Rookie King, Okita Keigo. Summary Graduation After Ippo graduates at his school, he meets Umezawa, who wants Ippo to take pictures with his fans. After taking pictures with his fans, he gives his farewells to Takemura and Matsuda, and begins walking with Umezawa. Before Ippo and Umezawa spilt paths, Umezawa attempts to apologise for everything he did in the past to Ippo, however Ippo believes he just wanted to know when the next match was, and tells him that he would call him when he knows. Umezawa then walks home after telling Ippo that he will cheer for him no matter what and to not lose. As Ippo walks home, he meets Miyata, who had also just graduated. Miyata reveals that he is moving away from Japan to go to South Korea and Thailand in order to face their strong boxers and will not come back until he closes the gap between him and Ippo. Yamada Naomichi Appears When Ippo returns to the Kamogawa Boxing Gym, he notices a big group of newcomers due to the gym having a big event with Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura having a match on the same day. When the newcomers state how serious they are about becoming pro, Takamura has the group do the same roadwork he does in order to test them. At the end of the roadwork, all but one newcomer makes it through: Yamada Naomichi, nicknamed "Geromichi" due to throwing up on Ippo after the roadwork. It then turns out that Yamada is an Ippo fan when Aoki finds his wallet and opens it, revealing a picture of Ippo inside. With Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura having to get ready for their matches and Kamogawa is busy, Ippo is chosen to teach Yamada. Ippo teaches Yamada the one-two after having him watch Aoki and Kimura spar. Meeting with the Champion On the day of everyone's matches, Ippo and Yamada arrive to the Kōrakuen Hall. Ippo shows Yamada what it is like moments before going to the hall for a match, showing the glove marks on wall. Ippo is then shocked when Fujii appears, along with the JBC featherweight champion, Date Eiji. Takamura then appears, and after a short conversation, comments about Ippo's punch not being so cute after Date claimed how Ippo was cute. Date realises Ippo is now ranked ten after winning the Rookie King tournament and requests for Ippo to go to his gym once his right fist heals to "play" before he goes for his title match. Kimura, Aoki, and then Takamura fought in their matches against Kanzaki Shinji, Arman Garcia, and Bonchai Chuwatana respectfully. The matches resulted with all three Kamogawa gym members winning. Aoki and Kimura get excited for their rankings going up, with Aoki commenting for a chance at a title match if he beats four more fighters. Ippo claims he has nine people left as he is ranked tenth, Kamogawa tells Ippo to be more greedy, as there are only nine people, with a title match being possible in the same year. Later, Ippo thinks back on meeting the champion, Date, and speculates that Date is probably above Sendō, Mashiba, and Miyata, wondering how much of a difference is there. One month later, when Ippo visits Yamaguchi to have a checkup on his right fist, she informs him that his right fist is now 100% healed. Ippo then tests his right fist out on a sandbag at the gym, successfully hitting it while thinking back at Date's words to go to his gym to "play" when his right fist heals. Sparring with the Champion After Kamogawa tests Ippo's right fist by using basic techniques on a sandbag, Yagi alerts Kamogawa about a sparring offer from the Nakadai Boxing Gym requesting to have Ippo spar with Date in three days. Kamogawa then informs this to Ippo. Three days later, Ippo, Yamada, and Takamura arrive to Nerima, where the gym is located. However, Takamura leaves Ippo and Yamada behind when he realises he has a date the same day. Once Ippo and Yamada arrive to the Nakadai gym, they are greeted by the gym's coach, Nakadai. Date then arrives, and begins getting ready for the spar by shadow boxing, causing Ippo to realise the champion uses a Corkscrew Blow. When the three round spar begins, Ippo was pushed back by the champion's overwhelming pressure. After getting hit in the face, Ippo begins blocking and dodging Date's punches while punching occasionally when he sees a chance, however it hits Date's guard. Ippo eventually lands a clean right to Date's face, and was about to throw a followup punch until the gong rang, ending the first round. Before walking back to his corner, Ippo hears Date mentioning that he will have to use his "Magic Punch". Nakadai and Date believe it is time to test the "Magic Punch", as Ippo's fighting style is similar to Date's next opponent, while Ippo wonders if the "Magic Punch" is the Corkscrew Blow. When the second round begins, Ippo starts weaving in a motion which Nakadai notes that it prevents Date from using the Corkscrew Blow. Ippo's movements to prevent Date from using the Corkscrew Blow costs him to go into the corner unknowingly. With Ippo trapped at the corner, Date uses the Corkscrew Blow on Ippo's body. Ippo, seeing a followup attack coming, tries to guard, however his body can not move, getting hit by the punch and going down, believing time had stopped for him. As Date claims the test was a success, Ippo gets back up, wanting to continue. The spar then continues, and when Ippo sees the Corkscrew Blow coming at him again, he attempts to block it, however Date successfully hits him with Ippo realising that Date's target was the heart before getting knocked down again. Gym member Okita notices that the technique Date used is called the "Heart Break Shot". The spar then continued after Ippo got up again, surprised at the technique. After the gong of the third round sounded, the spar ends with Ippo falling on the mat, thanking Date. Ippo then cheerfully left the gym after thanking Date again, shocking the gym members who note that Ippo fell six times in the spar. In the shower, Date believes Ippo has good hitting power and thinks about Ippo being ranked ten. Later that night, Ippo and Yamada thinks back on the spar. Yamada then mentions how strong Ippo is and how he himself used to get picked on a lot. Yamada explains to Ippo that when he saw his matches where he always got up whenever he fell, he wanted to become strong like Ippo. Ippo then tells Yamada a story about when he got picked on for eleven years of his school life until he picked up boxing. The story moves Yamada, who thought that Ippo was strong from the start. Ippo believes that he does not know what true strength is, wondering if Date knows. New Rookie King VS. Old Rookie King When Ippo returns to the Kamogawa gym, he finds out that Takamura told everyone a false story about how Ippo was downed ten times in one round and had to be carried home. Ippo then told everyone the true story, causing Kamogawa to chase Takamura away. Kimura gives Ippo a copy of the Boxing Fan magazine containing a statement about Date challenging the world after two or three more title defences. This disheartens Ippo, as he wanted to fight Date in the ring win or lose. When Kamogawa gets back from chasing Takamura, Yagi tells Kamogawa that the Nakadai gym has sent a request for Ippo to have a match against the last year's Rookie King, Okita Keigo, who is ranked fifth. Ippo then asks Kamogawa and Yagi to accept the request. When Kamogawa agrees for Ippo to fight Okita, he has him begin training for the match next month. At the Nakadai gym, after Okita is informed that the Kamogawa gym accepted his request, Date asked Okita why he chose Ippo, despite knowing how strong he is. Okita claims it is due to seeing him spar against Date. Date is then surprised when Okita uses a Corkscrew Blow on a sandbag. Later, as Okita walked away from the gym, he remembers when Date used the Heart Break Shot on Ippo, saddened as to why he did not use it on him, thinking that Ippo was better practise than himself. When the match between Ippo and Okita begins, both boxers have an in-fight where neither of them get a clean hit in until Ippo makes Okita step back after hitting his guard. Okita uses the Corkscrew Blow on Ippo's guard, causing Ippo's guard to break as his hand flings up in the air. Okita then begins to use feints, tricking Ippo to guard his head, allowing Okita to get a body blow in. Kamogawa advises Ippo to not go defensive and to not forget his boxing. Ippo decides to block Okita's jabs and bury into his space. However, Ippo is unable to do it due to Okita's feints, getting hit in the confusion. Okita soon gets Ippo into a corner and breaks his guard, leaving Ippo open for a Corkscrew Blow. Okita throws the Corkscrew Blow, however Ippo dodges it and hits the now defenceless Okita with a right uppercut, affecting his legs. Ippo and Okita both have a in-fight, with both fighters showing damage until Ippo downs Okita with a right. Okita stands back up after believing that his boxing is Date's boxing, and if he loses, Date's boxing would be defeated. Ippo goes on the offensive as Okita blocks his punches until both fighters throw a punch at the same time, with Ippo's punch landing first by a split second. Okita stops his fall after having memories of Date and how he wants to become like his idol. After feinting Ippo, Okita begins throwing a right Corkscrew Blow counter, however Ippo lands a right counter of his own, knocking down Okita to the mat. Okita is then unable to get up despite attempting to, resulting in Ippo winning the match. Before leaving the ring, Okita tells Ippo that Date will not be as easy. Okita then sees Date and claims that he will start over as he still has a long way to go in order to reach Date. Hearing this makes Date think of the difference between Okita, who wanted to reach him, and Ippo who wanted to surpass him. Date's match against second ranked Suzuki Toshio begins, and when Ippo arrives to watch, Suzuki has already been downed twice in the first round. When Date hits Suzuki with the Heart Break Shot, Date hits Suzuki with a follow up two times, causing a third down and ending the match. Upon winning the match, Date is asked in the victory interview whether or not Date will relinquish the belt and go for the world. Date answers that he will not relinquish the belt, as he has things to take care of in Japan, glaring at Ippo. Ippo glares back at Date after being nervous at first. Ippo then leaves the hall, with his eighth knock out victory and now being ranked fifth. Navigation Category:Section stubs Category:Story Arcs Category:Class A Contender Saga Arcs